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Meet the new tenants who are running an idyllic farm on the East Devon coast

Sam and Nell Walker have been successfully chosen to take on Stantyway Farm, a 264 acre arable organic farm located just above the idyllic village of Otterton between Budleigh Salterton and Sidmouth

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by Daniel Clark

19:07, 15 Sep 2017

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Stantyway Farm

New tenants for a once-in-a-generation opportunity to become a tenant farmer on the spectacular East Devon Jurassic Coast have been chosen.

Sam and Nell Walker have been successfully chosen to take on Stantyway Farm, a 264 acre arable organic farm located just above the idyllic village of Otterton between Budleigh Salterton and Sidmouth.

Sam and Nell have been tenant farmers on Devon County Council’s North Ground Farm, a 113-acre starter farm at Milton Abbot, near Tavistock, for nearly four years.

Through hard work and dedication they’ve developed their business, demonstrating a commitment that has led Clinton Devon Estates to offer them tenancy of their 264-acre arable organic farm, Stantyway Farm, in Otterton.

Sam and Nell Walker are the new tenants of Stantyway Farm. (Image: Picture NPS South West)

Cllr Caroline Chugg, Devon County Council’s Chairman of the Farms Estate Committee, said: “It demonstrates the value of our Farms Estate in providing a first opportunity for many people to break into the farming industry, before being able to move on to new opportunities.”

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Sam Walker is also a part-time agricultural lecturer at Duchy College and is experienced in many different areas of farming. His focus at North Ground farm has been rearing youngstock onto fat cattle, adapting the former dairy farm into a fit-for-purpose beef unit.

He’s also established a herbal grass ley trial field in collaboration with Reading University, hosting many visits from students and the public to the North Ground farm, establishing an Open Farm Sunday event

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Stantyway Farm near Otterton with land right up to the coast.
(Image: Guy Newman)

Stantyway is Clinton Devon Estates first farm to be let on the open market in 20 years. It had been farmed by the same family for two generations until the previous tenant’s retirement three years ago when it became part of the Estates’ in-hand operations.

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Sam said: “We’re incredibly grateful for this opportunity. Clinton Devon Estates are highly regarded landlords and Stantyway Farm will give us the chance to expand our business in new and exciting ways.

“We’d like to thank Clinton Devon Estates for putting their faith in us, as well as the Devon County Farms Estates for giving us the chance to prove ourselves at North Ground.”

Devon County Council has a farms estate totalling almost 10,000 acres. Its 68 dairy and mixed livestock farms are made up of starter and progression units. They are let with a view to tenants moving on to secure independent livelihoods in due course.

Cllr Chugg added: “We have a very successful Council-owned farms estate for many years now and while the types of businesses that have operated from our farms have evolved over the years, the principle behind maintaining the estate remains the same – to provide the opportunity for people like Sam and Nell the chance to develop successful businesses, with the intention for them eventually to move on to larger farms.

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“My congratulations to Sam and Nell. They have done an excellent job at North Ground Farm and we’re delighted that they’re now able to use the expertise, knowledge and experience they’ve gained to take on this new and exciting opportunity.”

Stantyway Farm near Otterton.

This was the first time in 20 years that the owners, Clinton Devon Estates, have let a farm on the open market. Stantyway Farm is one of 30 tenant farms on the 25,000 acre estate which encompasses farmland, forests and public open space as well as residential and commercial property across North and East Devon.

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Stantyway Farm includes a recently refurbished four-bedroom detached farmhouse and a range of modern, well-kept farm buildings on an easily accessible yard. Harvesting is due this summer, after which it will be left as grassland and stubble for the new tenant in September.